


A Gentle Hand

by Darazelly



Series: A Collection of Moments [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Massage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 17:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8498881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darazelly/pseuds/Darazelly
Summary: Lavellan helps Cullen with his sore back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Silly drabble to keep my mind off things.

”And master Dennet informed me this morning that he’s singled out a few of the new horses for the couriers to use. They’re fast, with good stamina and temperament. With your permission I’ll see to that his recommendations are carried out.”

Elshira nodded as she skimmed over the report in front of her. “I trust master Dennet’s judgment on the matter. Go ahead, commander.” She dipped her quill in the inkwell and signed the document before putting it to the side to let the ink dry.

Most of the surface of her desk was taken up by letters and reports. Their success at Halamshiral had endeared them something terribly to the nobles of Orlais, which manifested itself in an avalanche of letters and gifts in a bid to scurry a favour or two with the Inquisition. 

And despite that she’d spent several hours with Josephine this morning, it didn’t seem like the pile of uncompleted paperwork had grown any smaller. If she didn’t know better, she would suspect that Josephine had slipped a new paper onto her pile of unfinished work every time she had looked away.

“Then there’s the issue of the reports from the Emerald Graves.” She heard the shuffling of papers as Cullen flipped through the reports he were holding. “Leliana’s agents have recovered some new leads on the smuggle routes.”

She looked up to watch him where he paced back and forth in front of her desk while summing up the latest developments on the Red Templars’ activities. Creators, sometimes she envied his ability to sink so entirely into his work. After spending the whole day sitting still behind her desk she felt an itch in her legs; she still wasn’t used to this sort of work.

“Inquisitor?”

“Hm? Sorry, yes, if both you and Leliana can look into ways we can locate whoever leads the Red Templars in the Graves, we could set an ambush or somesuch.”

“As you wish, Inquisitor.” Cullen nodded and wrote something down on his board. “Whoever this ‘C’ is, we need to take them out if we hope to cut off Corypheus’ supply of red lyrium.”

To her amusement, he resumed pacing back and forth as he began to go over the latest leads in his hunt for Samson. Yet another pressing matter.

“Everything points towards the northern parts of Orlais so far, but I’m still waiting for a confirmed location.”

Perhaps she could talk him into taking a walk with her. Granted, he’d already done plenty of walking. If he wasn’t careful, he’d soon wear a groove in her floor. She smiled a little at the amusing mental image, just as a parchment escaped Cullen’s grasp to flutter down on the floor. With a quiet grunt of annoyance, he stopped in his tracks to retrieve it.

Her amusement at his diligent work ethics was dashed when she heard a pained huff and noticed how jerky his movements were when he bent down.

“Cullen, have you injured yourself?”

This time he didn’t freeze mid-motion from pain. “It’s… it’s nothing, Inquisitor,” he replied while slowly straightening to his full height again with the escaped parchment held securely in his grasp.

Elshira frowned and tilted her head to the side. “Your back. It seemed to be bothering you.”

He averted his gaze as he tucked back the parchment amongst his notes. She’d noticed the dark shadows under his eyes before, but for all the time she’d known him, it wasn’t that uncommon for him to have those. Once, she would have chalked it up to his habit of willingly prioritising work over sleep, but these days she knew a bit better… 

Cullen finally sighed and looked up.

“I sparred with Bull yesterday morning and the… lyrium withdrawals kept me up…I fell asleep at my desk.” He mustered a small, reassuring smile, but she noticed that it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

Elshira bit her lip and nodded. It’d been a surprise to her when he’d told her about the lyrium and that he’d been able to endure the painful withdrawals so quietly up to that point. “If you wish, I could take a look? I’m no healer, but I’ve rubbed out aching muscles more than once in my life.”

He cleared his throat, and seemed to steel himself, standing straighter and with a firm look on his face. “There’s no need for you to worry, Inquisitor.”

Smiling gently in reassurance, Elshira rested her chin in her hand. “I’m not asking as your Inquisitor, Cullen.”

They regarded each other for a few seconds as he seemed to teeter between the headstrong Commander of the Inquisition, and the sweet man who had just a week ago had taken her to that lake and given her his lucky coin. 

Swallowing, she glanced down at her papers. “I’m not forcing you; I understand if you don’t want me to or if it’s making you uncomfortable.”

“No, if you… if you think you can help, then…”

The mood seemed to instantly shift to a more relaxed state as she looked back up at him and their eyes met.

“Judging from the way you keep squirming, I imagine you might need a break from these reports as well.” Cullen smiled softly and stepped closer to her desk to put down his board with notes on it. 

Elshira huffed out a small laugh at his perceptive comment as she leaned back in her chair. “Am I that obvious, huh?”

“Not at all,” he replied in a diplomatic tone.

With a snort, she stuck out her tongue at him, earning her a low laughter from him.  
“So where do you want me?”

Elshira nodded towards the other side of the room. “Probably be easiest and more comfortable if you’d lie down on the bed. No shirt, if you’re alright with that.”

“As you wish,” he responded with a short nod and set to tug off his gloves. She set down her quill and closed the inkwell, busying herself with sorting through her papers while he disappeared beyond the carved wood-screens that split the large tower in two, offering a separation between her work area and more private living space.

As she sorted the parchments into neat piles for each of her advisors, she listened to the rustle of buckles and the soft clanking of his armour, glancing up in the direction of the sounds ever so often, even though she couldn’t see him. After a few minutes she put the papers to the side and rose up to follow him into her sleeping area.

Cullen was seated on the small couch by the banister, bent over in a somewhat awkward, straight-backed manner, to unbuckle his shin armour and remove his boots, the rest of his things neatly piled up at one end of the couch or on the floor. When she carefully nudged one of the wood screens a bit to the side to let in more sunlight, he looked up and gave her a small smile before returning to his task.

“Have the withdrawals been very bad for these last few days?” Elshira asked as she walked over to a small cabinet and began rummaging about amongst the numerous bottles stuffed inside – gifts of expensive perfumes and scented oils from various nobles and wealthy merchants, all but a very, very selected few completely untouched.

“It comes and goes. Nausea, headaches…”

“Not bad enough that you can’t eat, I hope.”

“Not always.”

She gingerly pulled out the clay bottle she’d been looking for, and closed the cabinet before turning around to face him just as he came to stand next to her.

“You know you can talk to me, right?” she asked quietly.

“I know,” he murmured in reply as he ducked his head to give her a soft kiss. “And I will, if I need to.”

“Good,” she whispered with a small smile before pressing her lips to his again.

Cullen wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer as they lost themselves in each other for a moment. 

“Well, good to know you’re not hurting enough not to do that,” she murmured against his lips.

Cullen chuckled, but as he straightened his back he barely managed to bite back a wince.

“Or not.” Elshira frowned as she regarded him. Creators, would he have stubbornly walked around with this injury if she hadn’t noticed? Wouldn’t surprise her if he would have. “On the bed, no shirt.”

“Ah, right,” he mumbled with a shy glance at the piece of furniture in question.

She smiled in reassurance, rose up a little on her toes to give him a kiss at the corner of his mouth, and then turned to walk over to her closet to give him a little privacy and fetch a towel. With a soft cloth in hand, she turned back to find Cullen lying stretched out across her bed as ordered, his back against the windows, watching her curiously.

“What’s in the bottle?”

Elshira glanced down at the brown ceramic bottle in her hand. “It’s a kind of herbal oil we make in my clan. It soothes the muscles, helps them heal and relax.”

She crawled up on the bed next to him and pulled over a pillow for him to put under his head. “Have you ever done this before?”

“Not since I was a Templar initiate.”

Humming, she uncorked the bottle and poured a bit of it into her palm before putting the bottle onto her bedside table. The fresh scent of herbs instantly filled her nose, and she couldn’t help but smile a little at how comforting and familiar it felt.

“Well, just relax and you know… let me know if something is uncomfortable.”

Cullen hummed in acknowledgement, shifting about until he found a comfortable position.

Elshira rubbed her hands together to warm up the oil as she carefully moved so she had her knees on each side of his thighs.

Her first touch was a purposeful press of her hands on each side of his spine as she slid them up his back.

The low, pleased groan from Cullen took her entirely by surprise. An amused smile spread on her lips as she repeated the motion, applying a little more pressure this time.

“Feeling alright?”

“Yes,” Cullen murmured in response.

Biting her lip not to giggle, Elshira continued with the task at hand. She felt herself sink into an almost meditative state of mind as she went through the familiar patterns at a steady rhythm while quietly humming on an old lullaby her mother used to sing. As she worked, she felt Cullen slowly relax, his breathing growing slow and even as the tensions disappeared from his muscles.

Once done, she leaned back and picked up the towel to wipe off her hands. “I hope that might have helped a little.”

The only answer she received was a soft snore. Elshira sat stunned for a moment before she moved off the bed, careful not to disturb him. A wide smile spread on her lips when she took in his expression, soft and relaxed with sleep. But then her mirth was just as quickly replaced by a wave of warm affection at the realization that he’d felt secure enough with her to fall asleep.

She watched him for a few seconds, overcome with the rush of feelings and unsure of whether to wake him or not. He looked so peaceful, and there was a certain protective feeling in her heart to keep him safe and help him in whatever way she could - to ease his pains, see him smile and laugh, free from the dark shadows clinging to him. They hadn’t spoken much about the future – Cullen was still dealing with his past, not to mention the lyrium withdrawals, and Elshira was still finding her footing in this new life she’d been thrust into. Since the forming of the Inquisition, she’d always assumed that she’d go back to her clan once they’d dealt with the one responsible for the Breach, had even been eager to return, but now…

Elshira brushed her fingers against Cullen’s cheek, smiling at the still a bit strange sensation of his stubble against her fingertips. Perhaps it was time to realise that the bonds she’d forged with the people in the Inquisition were holding her back. This bond, with Cullen, as unexpected as it had been, was holding her back most of all. And she knew that he cared for her too. 

Another soft snore interrupted her line of thought. While chuckling under her breath, she moved to stand up.

Creators, she didn’t have the heart to wake him up right away. He could use a nap.

Quietly, she fetched one of her blankets from the chest by the foot of the bed and pulled it over him. “Sleep well,” she whispered as she stepped away. Part of her wanted to just crawl up next to him and sleep as well, but… no, she needed to get through more of her paperwork.

With a last glance at him, she tiptoed back to her desk, fortunately feeling a little bit more energetic herself. She’d wake him in a little while.

**Author's Note:**

> Usual disclaimer; english isn't my first language and I write mostly as a relax thing besides my art, so feel free to point out any mistakes or other feedback you might have!


End file.
